Lies

“I can’t take any more of your lies. Of the manipulation. I can’t keep doing everything for you and then getting ghosted once I am done.” I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, practicing the speech I had been writing. If I didn’t get everything just right, I knew Shelly would turn everything against me once again. 

When Shelly and I had first met, I had been enamored. She was so confident. So well spoken. So put together. What I didn’t realize was that someone else was behind everything she did. I didn’t know because Shelly told me about all the success that had recently come her way in her personal life and how it had boosted her life in so many ways. In reality, it was Josie behind the scenes helping make sure Shelly was presentable. Once Josie pulled herself out of Shelly’s life, I somehow became her next ‘assistant’. At first, it was somewhat exciting to have someone in my life who kept asking me for advice. I had never been so needed and I was happy to help. But soon it turned into I was spending all of my free time tending to Shelly’s every need. All my free time and even some of my working hours were dedicated to Shelly. She wanted me to call in sick on days where she had an event she deemed important. 

I knew getting my life back would be difficult, but I didn’t expect the court order. For harassment.